15-minute guided grounding practice for insomnia — before you talk

About this practice

When insomnia shows up before you talk, this 15-minute grounding session gives you somewhere to put it down. A guided session of about 15 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: insomnia

Insomnia is often maintained by the fear of not sleeping. Anticipating a bad night raises arousal at bedtime, which produces the bad night.

It tends to show up as:

• Dreading bedtime
• Hours awake with a busy mind
• Sleeping worse as the week goes on

Removing the pressure to sleep is the active ingredient. This gives you something to do that is not trying.

Doing this before public speaking

• Do it somewhere private, or in the washroom if needed
• Slow the exhale deliberately and check your speaking pace after
• Warm the voice by reading a line aloud, not by staying silent

Rushing is the tell of nerves. A slower breath now is what sets a slower pace in the room.

How grounding works

Grounding brings attention to physical contact and the immediate environment. It works on the principle that the body cannot be somewhere else, so contact with the surface you are on is always available as an anchor.

• Feel the contact points — feet, seat, back — and let them take your weight
• Use the senses deliberately: what you can see, hear, touch
• Return to solidity whenever attention drifts

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Then find the nearest sound. It's probably your own breathing.
2. 0:12You can be as unimpressive as you like for the next few minutes.
3. 0:25We'll start broad and narrow down. Nothing sudden is coming.
4. 0:37You can let your eyes close now if they weren't already.
5. 0:49Feel the last part of the exhale, where it turns into nothing.
6. 1:02Let your breathing be boring. Boring is good here.
7. 1:13Feel the outline of yourself, from the top of your head to your heels.
8. 1:27Let your whole body be as heavy as it wants to be.
9. 1:40Notice your ribs on both sides. Wide, not squeezed.
10. 1:51Let the whole of your left foot be heavy.
11. 2:02Feel your belly. Let it be soft instead of held in.
12. 2:14There is a part of you that has handled hard moments before. That part is here now, even if it is quiet.
13. 2:32You do not have to win against the counting of hours until morning. You only have to breathe until the next moment arrives.
14. 2:50Let the breath be shallow if shallow is what your body wants.
15. 3:03If the frustration of not sleeping has been with you all day, it is probably tired too. Let it rest alongside you.
16. 3:21Nothing about the wide-awake mind at 2am has to be explained or justified in this room.
17. 3:36Feel your hips. Wide, heavy, and doing nothing.
18. 3:47Let it be this simple.
19. 3:56Notice that you don't have to start a breath. It arrives by itself.
20. 4:09Now feel both feet at once. That's a lot of contact with the world.
21. 4:23Let the pause stretch out.
22. 4:32Follow the breath down into your belly and feel it come back up.
23. 4:45Feel the middle of your back, the part that never gets attention.
24. 4:58No rush to move on.
25. 5:07Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose, if that's comfortable.
26. 5:20Notice your elbows. Odd things to have, but there they are.
27. 5:32Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
28. 5:42Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
29. 5:58Notice where your body is still holding something. Leave it alone.
30. 6:10Keep following the air.
31. 6:19Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
32. 6:30Feel your knees. They're just hinges, but they've worked hard.
33. 6:42Let your body keep settling.
34. 6:51Follow three breaths and let the fourth one go unobserved.
35. 7:03If a worry shows up, name it quietly and let it sit beside you.
36. 7:17A short silence. Let it be empty.
37. 7:27Let this be easy, if easy is available.
38. 7:38If you're sleepy, sit up a little. Or let the sleepiness be there.
39. 7:51Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
40. 8:02There's no need to try harder than this.
41. 8:13Notice any urge to check something. You can wait two more minutes.
42. 8:26A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
43. 8:37We'll keep it quiet and unhurried.
44. 8:47Notice the tone of your own inner voice. Is it kind?
45. 8:59Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
46. 9:11Small efforts are the whole method.
47. 9:21If you're counting the minutes, that's fine. Count them and come back.
48. 9:34Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
49. 9:45Nothing here needs to be efficient.
50. 9:55If you're distracted by a sound, let the sound be the object for a moment.
51. 10:09I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
52. 10:22We'll take this slowly, and there's no version of this where you get it wrong.
53. 10:36If you're replaying a conversation, let it play. It'll finish on its own.
54. 10:49Count four breaths silently. Then stop counting and just follow.
55. 11:01A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
56. 11:12Notice the space around the counting of hours until morning. It is there, even if it is small. Put your attention in that space.
57. 11:31You are allowed to be unimpressed by the frustration of not sleeping. Indifference is a legitimate response.
58. 11:46Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
59. 12:00Whatever the wide-awake mind at 2am is doing right now, your breathing can keep going underneath it.
60. 12:15Give the counting of hours until morning a shape, a colour, a temperature. Turning it into something specific makes it easier to hold.
61. 12:33Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
62. 12:44If you feel numb, that's a valid thing to feel. Nothing to fix.
63. 12:57If you're thinking about the next thing on your list, that list will still be there.
64. 13:12Notice the moment you realise you've drifted. That moment is the whole skill.
65. 13:25Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
66. 13:36If you only manage half of it, that's half more than nothing.
67. 13:49Nothing changes for a moment.
68. 13:58Come back slowly. There's no prize for finishing fast.
69. 14:09Notice if anything has loosened. Even slightly counts.
70. 14:20Take the next breath slowly.

Questions people ask

Meditation is a practice, not a treatment. If you are dealing with ongoing distress, please also reach out to a professional.